Reclaim
by ResidentThatGuy
Summary: When Ash journey's through Sinnoh thinking nothing but a missed opportunity, he is distraught. Will a visit from a special someone and her significant other help or worsen his pain? AdvanceShipping, AshxMay, Fluff, Unbearably cute romance and 20000000% of your daily value of AdvanceShipping
1. Prologue: I (Third Person)

_Introduction:_

_Our story takes place throughout Ash's journey through Sinnoh. Ash travels with Dawn and Brock through the region, and they are still in the beginning leg of their journey, I'm not sure exactly where (This was written long before I wrote the actual story, as one idea on a page of ideas I was deciding to turn into stories.) but for now I'll just assume they are on their way to their second badge. Wherever the actual time may be, we know that Dawn and Brock have both known Ash long enough to be able to understand him and, more importantly (As will follow in the story) tell when something is upsetting him._

_Warning:_

_This story contains heavy AdvanceShipping, the theory of Ash and May being in a romantic relationship. It also contains heavy hate and slightly OOC slander and a mean personality with Drew. If either of these two things offends you, please turn away._

_Disclaimer:_

_I do not make any claim to own, or be affiliated in any way with Pokémon, a franchise owned exclusively by Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri._

* * *

_Short A/N: Well hello there, this may look like my first story but I've written some things on my former account. Still, it's been a while since I've been on this side of the story, so I'd appreciate plot suggestions and advice. Why did I write this? I'm still a sucker for these two, and I haven't seen much of it recently, though I still browse through the older archives daily (There's a lot out there from years ago) Maybe I can rekindle this ship. I actually have a ton of ideas for more stories with this ship (Or any ship), some totally original and some which I've taken an idea or two from other people, but I'd still write it myself, I'm no plagiarist. Enjoy the prologue!_

* * *

Prologue: I

Location: Eterna City

Approx. time: Late morning

* * *

A quiet day in the City of Eterna, the second city of a certain Pokémon trainer's journey through the Sinnoh region, was soon interrupted by the sight of a small yellow object flying at a high speed through the street, causing much attention to be drawn. If that were not enough, a group of three people seemed to be sprinting after it, and yelling. As the crowd looks on, they pay no attention as they chase after the laughing little creature, which runs across the various stands around the street until he comes to a certain one, one that has a large ketchup dispenser. The creature squeals in delight and wastes no time in taking off the cap and taking all the ketchup.

"Pikachu…" A raven-haired teenager sighed as he saw the result of their running. "You dragged me here for ketchup? I would've bought you some buddy."

A girl and older teenager were soon to catch up.

"Ah! I hate running, why'd Pikachu run?" The girl, who appeared to be a few years behind the raven haired trainer and several more behind the tall one asked.

"Well, looks like Pikachu found some ketchup." The tall trainer finally spoke up.

"Whatever, he got it, now let's get going. We aren't going to be in Eterna city much longer and I'm sure there's a lot to do, especially now that I've got the badge out of the way." The raven haired trainer, growing impatient by his little friend's antics complained."

"I still thought you did really well in that battle, Ash." The girl said, with a sincere smile.

"Thanks Dawn couldn't have done it without you and Brock cheering me on like you did." Ash responded.

"Can we go shopping now? I saw some GREAT shops along these streets and there's so much cool stuff on sale!" Dawn squealed, looking around at the magnificent bazaar around her."

Ash and Dawn sweat dropped, knowing full well what agreeing would entail. The two weren't particularly fond of shopping, clothes, anything really that comes with it. But Dawn was a shopaholic. Every new place they went she had to get something new, and funny how it was always them who ended up carrying the large bags out.

"Come on Dawn, how much new stuff could you possibly need, just a few weeks ago in Jubilife city you got 5, no 6 different bags of stuff." Ash complained, with Brock giving a faint smile as the two of them argued. Some things never change.

"Are you kidding? There's SO much cool stuff. I saw this headwear shop and I thought that I couldn't get a new hat since the one I have is wearing out. And then I saw-"

Ash started to drift off, thinking about it again. What? Something that had been bothering him since...well a long time, before he even met Dawn. He tries to push it out of his head every day but it always haunts him.

The things I wish I'd said…

But that was a long time ago. Too late, much so. He put on a fake smile as he realized Dawn was just about finished talking about all the stores.

"You know...I changed my mind, let's do it!" Ash exclaimed, in a forced happy mood.

* * *

"Oooooh! This one is sooo cute, don't you think, Ash?"

Ash was getting on his last nerve, after 3 hours of shopping with Dawn and trying on at least a million hats at one store (All you need is one, why more?) he was getting awfully tired of pretending to be interested, but dawn seemed oblivious as ever roaming in her fantasy shopping world.

"Yeah, I agree." Was all he could find himself say, which seemed to do the trick as it provoked a smile from the young coordinator."

"Yeah, I thought so. Oh my god look at that beautiful bandana- Ah!" Dawn shrieked, racing over to the back of the stood while Ash followed behind. Brock seemed to be enjoying himself, flirting with the female cashier who was clearly uninterested, but that didn't stop Brock, when has it?

He was dragging himself along, looking forward to when Dawn could just pick one and they could leave to do something less...tortuous. That's when he looked up and saw something that made his heart stop beating. A red bandana stood out from the shelves on a display case- The caption, May Maple's newest lineup of headgear. A surge of emotions rushed through ash as he felt his heart would beat out of his chest and he would suffocate. He pulled out a picture frame from a 'secret' pocket in his bag and stared at it, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

He looked at the picture, then the bandana, back at the picture, and back again while Dawn stood oblivious to what was happening behind her as she saw something that caught her eye in the store.

Truthfully, Ash knew he couldn't go forever without being reminded of May. She was a famous coordinator after all, and everyone knew her name. She was the princess of Hoenn, for Arceus's sake.

The picture frame trembled underneath his grip, and a single tear fell onto the picture.

In the picture was a picture of two trainers smiling, himself- And May Maple.

*CRASH*

* * *

_I think it turned out pretty nicely, huh? I plan to continue this story a lot (Probably 30-40+ chapters) if anyone continues to show interest that long. The next chapter will be taking place in May's point of view, far away from the rest of the group, and we'll take it from there. don't forget to read, review, subscribe, all that fancy stuff and I'll hope to update this ASAP (Might get another chapter in later today or early tomorrow)._

_One more thing, I typically like writing very long chapters. There's a very fine line of things I want to happen in a particular order during the prologue, but once were out of that in a few chapters it will be a lot less restricted, and I'll probably be able to fit more in at once. So, TLDR: bear with me, the chapters will probably be getting longer after the prologue._

_Until Next time,_

_The Resident That Guy_


	2. Prologue: II (May)

_Greetings. Welcome to Chapter 2 of Reclaim. Thank you to the currently 101 people who viewed my story and the 5 (I believe) who Favorited and followed. I appreciate the gestures more than you know, especially on this new account. I hope you enjoy this chapter, which will start to create the plot of the story as the prologue progresses. It takes place in May's point of view, in Johto at a contest. For those of you who either like or dislike battle or contest descriptions, it may please or upset you to knot I will NOT be including those, as they don't matter to the plot and if I'm being honest I hate reading and writing them._

* * *

_Chapter 2_

_Location: East Johto, Pokémon Contest Finals_

_Approximate Time: Early Morning_

_Point of View: May Maple, Coordinator_

* * *

I walked back to the table where all my stuff was, after registering myself as a contestant in the Johto Pokémon Contest Finals. After weeks of training and preliminary rounds, there was left 8 contestants left who had yet to be eliminated from the competition. It was a thrill to see that both myself and by boyfriend, Drew had made it this far. Along with the joy that we'd be competing together, came the worry that eventually, one of us might have to battle the other.

For now, I pushed the thought of such an event out of my head as I waited for him to return, next in line to register, looking impatient. I laughed; he never was good at waiting for things. He came towards the table a minute later, being extra dramatic about how long it took, and I laughed at his childish antics.

"I just wish there was some VIP line for people like me so we don't get caught up with the rest of them, ugh!" He complained, slightly putting a damper on my mood but I didn't let it show.

Sometimes he was over dramatic and complained a lot, but there were those times he wasn't that bad and he was actually kind of sweet. I just wished that he'd show that side of him a little more often.

"Anyway, I'm so psyched to win this contest! I'll totally blow everyone away, piece of cake!" He shouted, perhaps a little too loud judging by the looks he received.

"Don't be overconfident Drew; you need to be prepared for some competition." I reminded him, knowing all too well that he was never one to think of anyone else as equal.

"Please, the rest of the second rate coordinators will be bowing at my feet; they don't stand a chance!" He said with a wide grin.

That stung a little. But at the same time it inspired me to work hard, because I wasn't going to back down if I had to battle my boyfriend in the finals, no way! I guess that's another one of the good things about dating Drew. He'll always give you room to improve, even if it's not necessarily in a helpful manner. The best thing I can do now, since the finals start tomorrow, is to go out and practice, especially on a nice day like today.

"Eevee, take the stage!" I yelled as my pokeball opened and my friend and Pokémon, Eevee, jumped out amongst smoke from the seal I was using on her pokeball.

"Eevee!"

"Eevee, use quick attack and jump, then spin and use swift at the ground!"

The tiny fox ran at high speed, white light shading it from its tail as if it were a comet, then is suddenly leapt into the air, seemingly defying gravity as it soared straight up and flipped when it stopped ascending. Eevee looked absolutely stunning, this was the best she'd ever done, and we'd practiced it a lot so that's really saying something. Then eevee's tail started to glow as she started to spin in the air, releasing small stars around her in a vortex pattern, each one disintegrating beautifully when they hit the ground, and creating a floor of white dust for Eevee to make her land on.

"Eeveeeeeeeeeeee!" Eevee cheered as she finished her stunt and came running over to may.

"Whoa, Eevee that was incredible! I've never seen you do that, how did you even do it? If you do that in the contest, we'll have no problem at all winning!" I said, still somewhat shell shocked from the spectacular show my Eevee had given me.

"Maybe that'll put Drew in his place…" I muttered, barely audible even to myself, with a little smile. "Let's do that again, and do it just like you just did!"

* * *

Approximate Time: Early Evening

Letting out a sigh of relief that I was finally done with training and stepping outside into the cold, crisp night air, I took a deep breath and relaxed myself. The great thing about this Pokémon center was that it was right next to a park which shone beautifully every night, and every night I've been here I've taken a walk. I went for about 5 minutes before I came to the cliff that overlooked the waves. I was always shocked to see them, they were so pretty and it reminded me of so many memories from Hoenn.

I sat on the cliff in silence, just thinking for a while, reminiscing about my travels with Brock and Ash. The cliff reminded me of a similar place in Ever Grande City, where we went for a contest I had. It was way out of the way of any of Ash's gym battles, and it must have inconvenienced him. Still, when I suggested the group head to a Gym so ash could focus on the Hoenn league, he was quick to tell me my contest was more important. It wasn't the first time; he always put the needs of others before himself, mostly mine. Whenever I needed something, it had always been the first thing on his mind, and sometimes he would go as far to put himself in danger, or put his life on the line to protect me.

I smiled as I remembered all the memories we had, and the smile went away soon. I wish we'd kept more contact, Ash and I. We promised we'd meet up soon, when he was through with the Sinnoh League and I the Hoenn Grand Festival. But, things could chance, chances were either he or I would finish before the other, he might decide to travel with someone else, for all I knew Drew would make me stay with him.

I decided not to think about that now. Besides, I wouldn't have a chance in the Finals thinking about other things. I needed to focus.

I got up and started to walk back to the Pokémon center, stopping halfway through to sit down. I rummaged through my bag, looking for something. I panicked a little when I couldn't find what I was looking for; losing that was something I could never forgive myself for. I let out a gigantic sigh of relief and felt my heart start to return to normal when I remembered I'd been looking in the wrong pocket. I looked into the smaller pouch in the front of my bag and saw the wooden frame. I reached into my pocket to pull it out and-

"There you are, May." Drew's voice surprised me.

"Oh, hi Drew."

"What are you thinking about, shouldn't you be practicing?"

"No, I was just taking a walk. I'm heading back now."

"Got it. So, tournament begins tomorrow, and the last match is only a few days away before someone wins."

"I know, I'm pumped fo-"

"And I think we all know who that someone is going to be- ME! ha ha!" He shouted, standing up and pointing to himself with an enormous grin.

"It very well might be Drew, but-"

"And when I get the ribbon, I'll make sure everyone respects me! I'll be so famous!" Drew gushed, clearly full of himself.

I gave up. Trying to reason with Drew when he got in this mood was impossible. You'd probably have more luck trying to tackle a Snorlax. Nevertheless, I know he didn't mean to be like this, but it gets agitating. Sighing, I got up and left Drew to daydreaming about fans calling his name.

When I got back to my room in the Pokémon Center, I remembered what I was doing right before Drew interrupted my walk, and pulled something out of my bag. I gripped the picture frame and stared into the picture, a smile creeping onto my face. It was a picture of me with my best friend in the whole world- Ash. We were smiling and holding out halves of the Terracotta ribbon, that we'd won together during our journey in Hoenn. We were so happy, and it reminded me of how much I wanted to see him after we'd been separated for so long. He would never make fun of me or act all self-confident, he'd probably be here beating up drew.

I giggled at that thought, and decided to call it an early night. I'd need all the strength I can get tomorrow. Bu I was starting to make plans in my head to go back and find Ash in Sinnoh, wherever he was.

* * *

_So ends chapter 2. While may shows no signs of affection for Ash, she has recognized him and wants to see him again, get excited! I'd like to ask everyone to please subscribe to the story as it will be long and will only be getting better, or to me if you want to be notified of when my other advanceshipping stories come out (And believe you me there will be more), and to read and review, no reviews yet but that's ok, but all is appreciated including advice or suggestions for the plots._

_Until next time,_

_The Resident That Guy_


	3. Prologue: III (Dawn)

_And chapter three finally arrived! A little later than usual, because I wasn't sure about how far this chapter should go. I'm pretty proud of how it came out. My reasoning for it being late? 5 baseball games in a week, I don't get any free time until 9 o'clock at night. In addition, I've been coordinating a little something with one of my favorite people on this site, and I'm pleased to announce he's allowed me to rewrite his story in my own fashion, so look out for that. I made a little one shot to tide you over, if you haven't seen that than check my profile. That's all for now._

* * *

_He was dragging himself along, looking forward to when Dawn could just pick one and they could leave to do something less...tortuous. That's when he looked up and saw something that made his heart stop beating. A red bandanna stood out from the shelves on a display case- The caption, May Maple's newest lineup of headgear. A surge of emotions rushed through ash as he felt his heart would beat out of his chest and he would suffocate. He pulled out a picture frame from a 'secret' pocket in his bag and stared at it, tears beginning to form in his eyes._

_He looked at the picture, then the bandanna, back at the picture, and back again while Dawn stood oblivious to what was happening behind her as she saw something that caught her eye in the store._

_Truthfully, Ash knew he couldn't go forever without being reminded of May. She was a famous coordinator after all, and everyone knew her name. She was the princess of Hoenn, for Arceus's sake._

_The picture frame trembled underneath his grip, and a single tear fell onto the picture._

_In the picture was a picture of two trainers smiling, himself- And May Maple._

_*CRASH*_

* * *

The crash was audible throughout the entire store, turning more than a few heads.

Ash pulled down his hat to cover his eyes, which were letting loose a considerable flow of tears as all the bottled up emotion he had hidden so well along his journey blew up in his face.

Dawn turned and her heart dropped when she saw Ash's condition. He had a look of what she could only describe as pure despair and heart-wrenching sadness. It made her want to cry too. She saw him try to hid it and she felt awful.

Ash stood abruptly, still crying, picked up the frame, and hurried out the door, leaving Dawn and the rest of the customers shocked, and Brock with a grim expression. He ran, ran as far and as long as he could before he felt alone, coming to the top of a small hill. He didn't care that he'd probably just scared both of his friends, that he'd drawn a ton of attention to himself. All he needed was to be alone and think for a while.

* * *

Location: Just Outside of Eterna City, Sinnoh

Approximate Time: Late Evening

Point of View: Dawn

* * *

I almost jumped out of shock when I heard the large crashing noise. I looked at the shelves around me, I didn't knock anything over, and I wondered where the sound was coming from.

I wish I didn't turn around because what I saw broke my heart. Ash was kneeling on the ground with a broken picture frame of which I couldn't make out the picture, with a look of pain on his face, his hat covering his eyes. And he was crying.

I just stood there, watching him, wishing I knew what to do, what to say to help him. I'd known he's been feeling a little bit sad for the last few days, but this was taking it to a different level entirely. I didn't do anything, nor did Brock who was standing there with a grim look on his face.

Grim...not surprised. Did Brock know why Ash looked so utterly hopeless? I'd ask him later. I took a few careful steps toward Ash. Then, he stood up really suddenly and pulled his hat down farther. I walked closer and he suddenly, like a madman, raced to pick up the picture, nearly slipping in the process, throwing Pikachu on his shoulder and bolting out the door. He didn't do it silently. As he sprinted out into the night and I stood there in shock, I heard a single, quiet sob as he went through the door.

But if you had asked me then, I would have told you it was the loudest and most heart-crushing sob I'd ever heard.

* * *

"Ash! Ash! Come on, Ash!" I shouted as I kept walking.

I'd been searching the city for over an hour, trying to find Ash, and feeling guilty about what happened. Why'd you just stand there? It was obvious he really needed someone and you just watched him like a fool… I thought to myself, which made me look down.

"Hey kid, looking for somebody?" I heard a voice say? I turned around and saw it came from someone manning a street stand selling all sorts of things.

"Yeah, I am. You wouldn't have happened to see a boy with a hat and a Pikachu on his shoulder would you?"

"As a matter of fact I have. I saw him running west toward the edge of the city. Perhaps he's in the rural area beyond that point."

"Great, thanks for telling me!" I said enthusiastically, running off in the direction he pointed to.

After running for 10 minutes I came to the edge of a cliff overlooking the water. It had a bench that had a splendid view of the pier and the lights as they sparkled against the water. On the bench sat a familiar figure, hunched over, and looking really depressed.

I slid down on the bench next to him and put my arm over his shoulders, pulling him a little closer to me. His expression softened just a little.

"Ash?" I carefully asked, knowing how sensitive he was at this time. "What's wrong, Ash?"

He took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. "It's nothing, Dawn, really."

"You know you're a terrible liar Ash." I said with a comforting smile, looking directly into his hurt-filled eyes. I was really concerned for him, in the short time I knew him he'd never been this bad. Of course, I tried to look strong for him; because I knew he needed me.

"It's...just something that happened a little while ago. Something I'll regret until the day I die."

"Do you want to talk about it? It'll help you feel better."

He sighed, and I'm not sure, but I think I saw another tear fall down.

"I'm sure you've heard of a girl named May Maple."

My face briefly brightened. May Maple, one of the greatest Pokémon Coordinators of our time. She always astounded me when I saw her perform on TV. Did Ash meet her once? But is he, did, wouldn't that make him happy and not sad?

"Yeah, I've seen her on TV coordinating sometimes." Was all I said.

"She and I traveled through Hoenn together, like you and I are doing now. We- we were best friends, closest of all closes. We did everything together and never left each other's sides the whole time. I'm just missing being with her is all."

I frowned. There must be more to this story. Nobody would burst into tears and run away because they missed their friend. Then I remembered something.

"But I thought May traveled with another coordinator in her journeys, and that they won the Terracotta ribbon together." I questioned, because it wouldn't make sense unless Ash and this coordinator both went with them.

For the first time since we started talking, he smiled and reached into his bag. He pulled out a small orange item, and I gasped when I saw what it was. He held in his hand half of the terracotta ribbon, the same one May was rumored to carry with her at every contest she attended.

"Whoa Ash, you never told me you won a contest."

"I didn't win it. WE did, together." He said, putting it back in his pocket.

"Is that all? You just miss a friend?" I asked in a soothing tone, hoping maybe I was closer to understanding him.

He looked away from me as he talked. "No, that's not all. When we began our journey, she was my best friend. We had an unbreakable bond that only grew stronger every day. Around the time I got my 6th Hoenn badge, I started looking at her differently. I guess I was starting to get a little crush on her. It wasn't until I came to Sinnoh and was without her for the first time when I realized...how much, how much I love her."

His tears began to fall, and I was shocked. All I could do was tightening my hold on him and console him through his hard times.

"It's ok Ash, I'll be here for you. Let it all go."

We stayed there for 10 minutes before he abruptly stood up.

"I appreciate the talk Dawn, but I'll never get over this by sitting here and crying about it. I think we should go and find Brock and our Pokémon.

I had to agree, even though I knew his problem wasn't solved.

* * *

Location: Eterna City, Sinnoh Region

Approximate Time: 10:00 PM

* * *

Ash and Brock were both asleep. I looked at my Poketch. 10:00 PM, I should be sleeping. Instead, I thought about what Ash had told me. How could I call myself his friend when I failed to notice he was so broken, and why couldn't I do anything to help him.

Something stirred beside me, and I jumped. I realized it was just Ash tossing and turning in his sleep. I heard a low, quiet noise, and realized Ash was talking in his sleep.

"You...can't leave me. I have to tell you. I'll always love you, May." Ash whispered before turning over and not making any more noise.

I smiled. "He must really love May."

I couldn't stay awake forever, but I made a promise to myself that I'd help Ash get May back.

* * *

_And so ends chapter three of Reclaim. Next chapter will be in May's POV and will most likely involve her travel to Sinnoh. Here's where the plot finally starts to unfold. I make no promises for the next update, hopefully sometime this weekend._

_Until next time,_

_The Resident That Guy_


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